(Area) Law Enforcement is in the midst of a STEP project for the upcoming Labor Day weekend.
Iowa State Patrol Trooper and Public Information Officer Shelby McCreedy said STEP stands for Special Traffic Enforcement Program. Trooper McCreedy says this program from August 21 through September 7. “The 2020 campaign for this STEP project, is Drive Sober or get pulled over,” said McCreedy. “The intent is to get impaired drivers pulled over during this holiday weekend.”
In 2019 there were six fatalities on Iowa’s roadway over the Labor Day weekend. Three of those deaths involved drunk drivers.“So as with every holiday project, there will be additional personnel on the roadways to take impaired drivers off the roadways, as well as enforce speed limits and seat belts. So slow down, wear your seat belt, put the phone down, and make sure you don’t drive impaired over the Labor Day holiday weekend.”
Labor Day weekend, known as the last holiday weekend of the summer, is one of the deadliest times of the year in terms of drunk-driving fatalities. During the 2018 Labor Day holiday period, there were 439 traffic fatalities nationwide. Forty-percent of those fatalities involved drivers who had been drinking, and more than one-third of the fatalities involved drivers who were over the legal limit.
